Questions tagged [contributor-agreements]

For questions about the legal documents covering contributions from outside a project's core team.

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22 votes
1 answer
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What is the difference between a CLA and a CTA?

I've seen that some projects require a Contributor License Agreement (CLA) and some require a Copyright Transfer Agreement (CTA). Some examples of places using a CLA: Django Google jQuery Some ...
Kevin Brown-Silva's user avatar
15 votes
2 answers
457 views

Must contributor agreements be physically signed?

I've been developing an API internally with a few friends, and hope to expand it and make it open to the broader public. I've highlighted a lot of background in this question, but to recap, it's a ...
Zizouz212's user avatar
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29 votes
3 answers
5k views

When folks send me pull-requests on GitHub, what are their copyright/licensing terms by default?

Say I'm maintaining a GPLv3 project on GitHub with a LICENSE file, code headers and all. Now, a few folks made some code enhancements and sent me a pull-request. Does that automatically mean that they ...
Prahlad Yeri's user avatar
26 votes
3 answers
2k views

What are the advantages of adding a Contributor License Agreement to a project?

Some projects have a Contributor License Agreement (as example the CLA of the Apache foundation). What is it for? What are the consequences when I don't have one?
ratchet freak's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
1k views

CLA as an exception to the GPL

If it is true that GPL exceptions can be made to apply to some individuals and not others, could the author of an open source program avoid the hassle of asking contributors to sign a Contributor ...
HullCityFan852's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
582 views

Does inbound=outbound apply to Apache 2.0 without a CLA?

The traditional expectation for contributions to a free software project are "inbound=outbound" [1] [2]. That is, if the project is under license X, contributions are made under license X. Does this ...
lofidevops's user avatar
  • 1,970
2 votes
1 answer
276 views

Does inbound=outbound apply to GPL-family without a CLA?

The traditional expectation for contributions to a free software project are "inbound=outbound" [1] [2]. That is, if the project is under license X, contributions are made under license X. Does this ...
lofidevops's user avatar
  • 1,970
14 votes
1 answer
1k views

Projects which require copyright assignment from contributors?

I read the following in ØMQ - The Guide (in Chapter 6, in the section Licensing and Ownership): All patches are owned by their authors. There SHALL NOT be any copyright assignment process. Here we ...
ChrisW's user avatar
  • 339
19 votes
3 answers
10k views

Common practice on GitHub and license/copyright

I have been searching the web for quite some time now, but the plethora of opinions/comments/articles about licensing questions make it difficult to verify how trustworthy the various sources are. ...
guest389014's user avatar
18 votes
2 answers
2k views

How to accept contributions for AGPL / proprietary dual-licensed projects?

Supposed I have written a software that I offer using a dual-license model, using AGPLv3 as OSS license, and a proprietary one as commercial (closed) license. Now, let's assume somebody wants to ...
Golo Roden's user avatar
14 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is it possible for Linux developers to retroactively "pull their code" from Linux?

Linux now has a Code of Conduct. In the resulting backlash some people have claimed that developers can "flip a kill switch" or "pull their code" from Linux. They seem to mean that developers can ...
Reinstate Monica's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
291 views

Is copyright of a contribution to a BSD 2-clause project automatically assigned to the project's copyright owner?

The 2-clause BSD licence includes the clause: Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. What implications does this ...
Ian Hinder's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
583 views

What additional benefits does the DCO provide?

If my project has a lax license (like Expat/MIT), I can enforce "inbound=outbound" by requiring that contributors sign off their commits in order to acknowledge the Developer Certificate of Origin. I'...
lofidevops's user avatar
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9 votes
1 answer
448 views

Copyright assignments in Germany

When contributing to some of their projects, the FSF requires you to assign the copyright to your work to the FSF. As I'm German, I'm interested in whether this is compatible with German law. German ...
UTF-8's user avatar
  • 193
9 votes
3 answers
4k views

How to complete CLA on GitHub

I have submitted a pull request on GitHub and the organization asked me to sign the CLA before they can merge the pull request, who currently has the red label 'cla-required'. How can I do this? ...
Adrien's user avatar
  • 217
9 votes
1 answer
193 views

What can you do if you can't track down all old contributors to sign a CLA?

Many FOSS projects start out without a Contributor License Agreement (CLA). Many, if they become large and successful, will want to transition to system based on CLAs. But what about if they can't ...
curiousdannii's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

What does "and contributors" in the copyright byline imply?

I have read that a simple way to manage contributions was to add "and contributors" to the copyright byline: Foo project Copyright 2017 J. Hacker and contributors Shared under the Libre ...
lofidevops's user avatar
  • 1,970
6 votes
2 answers
446 views

How does contributing to a FLOSS project work from a legal perspective?

Some points I know: Contributors own copyright over their contributions, which means the author (= the owner of the repo and original author) cannot re-license the code (= change the license of the ...
rugk's user avatar
  • 365
5 votes
1 answer
527 views

Contributor License Agreements and anonymous/pseudonymous contributors

If a user contributes under pseudonym or even anonymously, how does this affect CLAs? Does it help anything if he signs a CLA with that pseudonym?
Fernando Gutierrez's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
220 views

Does the DCO require a cryptographic signature?

The Developer Certificate of Origin mentions a signature: I understand and agree that this project and the contribution are public and that a record of the contribution (including all personal ...
lofidevops's user avatar
  • 1,970
3 votes
1 answer
206 views

Do software patches ever inherit the license of the patched project?

This is a follow up question to an earlier question which included a misunderstanding about the nature of the MIT/X license, and has been clarified there. Consider the software project dwm by Suckless....
preferred_anon's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
752 views

How are software patches licensed?

Consider the software project dwm by Suckless. The project is clearly licensed under the MIT/X Consortium License, which includes the clause The above copyright notice and this permission notice ...
preferred_anon's user avatar